Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s address at presentation of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes
All my friends present here!
You are the ones who spend their entire lives in laboratories. And you have a tradition of undertaking a pilot project at first. Thereafter, the pilot project is made scalable. A pilot project has just been completed. Now it's time for the real one. Earlier it was just a practice till now. The real one is to give a standing ovation to the award winners. We all will give a standing ovation. So the first one was practice and this is the real one.
On National Science Day today, I have got the opportunity to be amongst you all. You all are well aware of the fact that this day marks the anniversary of the great scientist and Nobel laureate Sir CV Raman’s discovery of the Raman Effect. The nation had got its first Nobel in the field of science due to this achievement. Paying my homage to Dr. Raman, I offer my best wishes to the entire scientific community and the students of science on the National Science Day.
I hope that your effort in all the research and development work becomes successful and that the people of the country are able to reap its benefits. I congratulate the winners and their families, who have received the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar award today. We are proud of your achievements; India is proud. I especially congratulate their families because their lives are spent in the laboratories. Therefore, the maximum sacrifice is made by their family members. Your work and efforts have always benefitted the country and the society. The fruits of such efforts are reaped even by the generations to come. Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan and Jai Vigyan and Jai Anusandhan will be the path of New India. For this, the role of such awards and events such as National Science Day is very important.
Friends,
This year's theme is very relevant. I too insist upon the idea of linking science to people's needs. Our government is also making some effort in this direction through all its programmes and schemes.
Friends,
Today we have a dividend of democracy, demography and demand. Today India has become the world's fastest growing economy. The ambitions of our youth are the greatest strength that we have. In such a scenario, we have to link science and technology or innovation to the people and make it in line with the aspirations and needs of society. This year, during Indian Science Congress in Jalandhar, I had said that science is being linked to the needs of society and that precisely is India's real strength. And I sincerely believe that you all will continue to improve your skills related to science, nuclear energy, space science and defence.
Friends,
The people of our country want nothing less than the best. Our standard has been raised to greater levels. If the thinking of our institutions is outdated, then we will not be able to fulfil the ambitions. Our institutes associated with the sciences also have to adapt themselves according to the future requirements. Maintaining our original strength, we must prepare ourselves as per the shape of things to come in society and economy. I have urged my Principle Scientific Advisor to make a comprehensive plan regarding this and to move forward. Equal participation from all of you is also very important.
Friends,
Our space programme is an example of how we can achieve great results with a strong will power in spite of limited resources. Be it the Moon Mission, Mars Mission or the accomplishments related to the launch of satellites; the world is stupefied with the skills of our scientists. In our first attempt, we had successfully sent our Mangalyaan to the orbit of Mars. We are the first Asian country to do this. With whatever we have achieved so far, I am confident that by the year 2022, the country's own Gaganyaan will successfully carry the country's sons and daughters into space fluttering the tricolor there.
Friends,
Our scientist, all of you have always contributed to the welfare of humanity. Pharma sector is one of the areas in which you have done a commendable job that is playing a crucial role in making the lives of the common man easier. India is the sixth largest market and the third fastest growing market in the world in terms of Pharma today. Today Indian medicines are being exported to more than 200 countries.
The development of our pharma sector has been possible due to technical strengths like the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research labs i.e. CSIR labs. CSIR labs are also credited with the fact that the world's expensive high-quality medicines are available at very low prices in the country today. Considering the knowledge of making medicines that they possess and the treasure of medicinal plants that the forests of India have, the further growth and expansion of CSIR is certain. I believe the time has come for us to boost our pharma sector and biotech sector. Therefore, we need to link innovations with accomplishments from generics and bio-similar.
Friends,
Another effort being made by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research is commendable i.e. the Aroma Mission. It is expanding its reach in tribal areas of Jammu and Kashmir, North-East and Chhattisgarh through the Aroma Mission. And I have been told that in the last 18 months, around 3,000 hectares of land have been brought under aromatic plants cultivation. I congratulate the entire team of CSIR for this achievement.
Apart from aromatic plants, the CSIR is also playing a significant role in terms of biofuels. The successful trials of the aviation biofuel created by CSIR are also over. For the first time on August 27, 2018, the plane was flown from Dehradun to Delhi. With this, India has joined the club of select countries of the world, which can fly planes with biofuel. It was not only for civilian uses. During this year's Republic Day, the jet of our Air Force had also used biofuel.
Friends,
Now we would need a new kind of fuel. In the next two decades, new technologies like big data, machine learning, block chain, artificial intelligence will be in use. These technologies will be based on data. So now it is being said that, data will be the new fuel of the world. Given these new needs, our government has launched the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical System Campaign. About Rs.3500 crores is being spent on this campaign. Under this, robotics, artificial intelligence, digital, manufacturing, big data analysis, quantum communication, and internet of things will be promoted in the next five years. It will boost R & D.
Friends,
The Central Government has also created an artificial intelligence task force so that India can be ready for industry 4.0. I appeal to the scientific community and technology experts to develop new techniques that can change the direction of the world in this initial period of the fourth industrial revolution so that India can become a global hub of manufacturing, knowledge or technology based industry. Artificial intelligence can be used in the country from agriculture to transportation and healthcare to meteorology. It has the power to help us achieve our targets on the path of development and progress.
We cannot confine or limit the technologies being developed today. It requires a new kind of thinking and a cross disciplinary research can give a Philip to this thinking. This means that such an environment of research must be created where engineers can work with cell biologists, where a chemist gets inspired from arts and a physicist works together with a social scientist. This confluence of different disciplines or ideas will definitely develop a new culture of R & D based innovation.
I am confident that this culture will also be strengthened by the efforts of our government in the field of higher education. Our government has taken several steps for the development of education and especially the higher education. We are promoting research, development, and innovation. Autonomy is being given to institutions of higher education so that the standard of education can be improved. In this endeavor, 60 higher education institutes including 21 universities have been given graded autonomy. The government's idea behind giving autonomy to IIMs also lies on similar lines. Similarly, the work on the Institutes of Eminence has also been started. Such institutions are also being given full autonomy so that they can emerge as the best institutions of the world. This is also our national obligation so that we can inspire our youth and develop a scientific temper in them because they are our future and in the future, they will take over the reins of India and will show the path to the world.
Friends,
The impact of science or technology is greater when it influences the lives of the poor and deprived sections of society. In this regard, it is also essential to link science and technology to the challenges of the country and to make all the scientific agencies of the country a part of this campaign. And therefore, our research will have to be solution oriented. Questions related to health care, affordable housing, clean energy, environment, waste management, agriculture, food processing, electric mobility, cyber security and value addition need to be answered and I believe science cannot be compromised and it should be fundamental. Science should be fundamental but technology should be local. Technology being local means that it should provide answers to the Indian conditions and needs. For this campaign to be successful we have to get out of our silos and instead of taking up things in isolation, we need to keep thinking holistically. If one is to plant a tree, then we cannot outsource the work of digging the pit to one, sowing the seeds to the other while watering it to yet another. This thinking cannot work. We must keep the goals clear, only then the path will be visible to us. Both our public and private sector industries are capable and vibrant enough to transform themselves with the rapidly changing technology; but in order to keep ourselves ahead in the competition, we have to take major steps and set new directions. In order to find solutions to these challenges of the society, the Prime Minister Science, Technology & Innovation Advisory Council is also working very seriously.
Friends,
We have complete faith in your capabilities, skills and your strengths. With this ability, New India will have new inventions, they will come up with new technologies and through science the nation will move ahead with the aspirations of the people. Only then will the benefits of science and technology reach our Jawans and Kisans. Once again I congratulate those sage-like scientists who have toiled hard in the field of science and have received awards today. I congratulate all of you. My best wishes to you all on the occasion of National Science Day.
Thanks a lot!